OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS

A Part of Genealogy Express
 
Welcome to
Tuscarawas County, Ohio
History & Genealogy

History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1884)

 

PART IV.
TOWNSHIP HISTORIES.

CHAPTER I.

NEW PHILADELPHIA AND GOSHEN TOWNSHIP.
Pps. 467 - 503

LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT - ITS FOUNDATION - EARLY SETTLERS -
THE VILLAGE IN 1820 - ADDITIONS - INCORPORATION - PUBLIC BUILDINGS -
SCHOOLS - CHURCHES - CEMETERY - SOCIETIES - THE PRESS - PHYSICIANS -
MEDICAL SOCIETY - BANKS - INDUSTRIES - HOTELS - GOSHEN TOWNSHIP -
ITS EARLY HISTORY - SURFACE FEATURES - FIRST SETTLERS -
THE GOSHEN INDIANS - LOCKPORT - PIKE RUN - ONTARIO MILLS -
MOOREVILLE - CHURCHES - SALT WORKS - JUSTICES.
 

NEW PHILADELPHIA, the county seat of Tuscarawas County, is a beautiful, quiet little city of 3,500 people, situated on the spreading plains above the Tuscarawas River, in the western part of Goshen Township.  Its streets are brad, level and finely shaded; its lots are large and are generally occupied by spacious residences and cozy cottages, which gives an air of comfort and plenty to the place and bespeak the thrift and prosperity of the inhabitants; its public buildings would be creditable structures to any county of the State.  The newly-built court house, overlooking the center of trade and traffic, is a model of solid and imposing workmanship.  The schoolhouse, located in a retired part of the town, is ample in size and conveniences to accommodate the pupils of the growing population for many years to come.  The city hall, churches are industrial buildings scattered in various portions of the county seat are further indices of wealth and prosperity.
     The village was laid out in 1804, and its proprietor, John Knisely, from the systematic structure and size of its plat at that time, evidently expected it to become an important city.  Four years later, upon the erection of Tuscarawas County, New Philadelphia was selected as its county seat by a committee appointed for this purpose by the State Legislature.  The early records of the county show that Elijah Wadsworth and Eli Baldwin, received $32 from the county for locating the seat of justice.  Dover, which was laid out in 1807, contested unavailingly for the prize.  The growth of New Philadelphia has been commensurate with the progress of the county.  Its population, as given in as many of the census reports as are now accessible, has been as follows:  In 1820, 236; in 1840, 531; in 1850, 1,414; in 1860, 2,360; in 1870, 3,143; in 1880, 3,070.  The apparent decrease during the last decade is not real, for i 1870  the population of Lockport, amounting to several hundred, was included in the returns of New Philadelphia, while in 1880 it was enumerated separately.
     The first settlement in the county seat, occurring nearly eighty years ago, is involved in some obscurity.  When laid out, the site of the village was covered with brush and trees, and the lots and streets indicated only by small stakes.  Broadway and High streets were first cleared, adn for years were the only thoroughfares.  One log cabin rose slowly after another as time rolled on, and were gradually displaced by larger and more substantial dwellings.  Mr. Knisely, the proprietor, did not build him a cabin within the limits of the town, but dwelt a short distance east of it.  John Hull, who accompanied Knisely from Pennsylvania, is said to have built the first house in New Philadelphia; he remained a resident but a short time.
     In the spring of 1808, the population of the town consisted of four families.  Peter Cribbs had built his cabin and potter-kiln on the east side of Broadway, between Front and High, and conducted the pottery business there for many years.  George Leininger had erected a large, rude cabin, which he used as a tavern, on the southwest corner of Broadway and Front streets.  Christian Stout lived in a house on Water street, and followed carpentering.  He came from Washington County, Penn., and his son Joseph  is said to have been the first child born in New Philadelphia.  The year of his birth was 1807.  Henry Laffer was also here.  He was a Pennsylvanian, had assisted in surveying the lands of Ohio, and in 1809 opened a tavern at his dwelling house in New Philadelphia and kept it for several years.  He was Sheriff of the county from 1810 to 1813, and soon after founded Sandyville, and removed thither.
     In May, 1808, a party of five persons, consisting of David Fiscus, old Mr. Geiger and son, DAniel Williams and Peter Williams started afoot from Greensburg, Westmoreland Co., Penn.,. with New Philadelphia as their objective point.  A few days' traveling along indistinct trails or paths blazed by the woodman's ax, brought them to their destination.  John Knisely lived on his farm adjoining the town on the east, across Beaver Dam, and his house was the stopping-place of all new-comers.  After resting from their tiresome journey, the party was conducted by Mr. Knisely to the town.  Reaching the forks of the road at the east and, where now the roads to New Cumberland and Cadiz separate, he told them that they were now in town, but only an expanse of bushes and small trees met their vision.  At what is now High street, a mere foot-path wound along, and around the bushes and saplings to the next square, where the enthusiastic proprietor informed them the court house was destined to be built.  A few trees had been cleared from the square, and Broadway, crossing it, was the only street that was partially cleared.
     Several days later, Gabriel Cryder arrived with several teams, on his way to settle in what is now Dover Township.  Besides his household effects, he had an assortment of goods which he had received in exchange for a house and lot in Pennsylvania.  Having no house or barn yet erected, and finding no room at the village where he could store them, Mr. Cryder was desirous of selling the goods.  The settlers in and about New Philadelphia were anxious to have a store started here, Gnadenhutten being then the nearest trading point, but there was no one to buy them.  When the Greensburg party were making preparations to return, Mr. Cryder was informed that Peter Williams had clerked for several years in a store. Cryder was informed that Peter Williams had clerked for several years in a store.  Cryder and several others urged young Williams, who was then but sixteen years of age, to purchase the stock.  He possessed no means, but two men agreed to become his security for the amount, and Williams was induced to remain.  One of the men afterward declined to assume the responsibility, and the goods were given to the lad for his own notes.  Peter Cribbs offered half his little cabin, and in it a store room was rudely fitted up.  The goods were rapidly sold, and replenished, and the first mercantile venture thus resulted in the establishment of a store which was carried on successfully for many years.
     After the seat of justice was established, a steady stream of emigration commenced.  George Leininger, the first tavern keeper, took out a license for that purpose in 1808.  He died soon after, and his widow, Margaret Leininger, carried on the business for many yeas at the old stand, the southwest corner of Broadway and Front.  It was here that the first courts were held, and in the year 1808, Leininger's tavern was, doubtless, the most important and widest known locality in the county.  Abraham Shane opened a tavern in 1809.  He raised two or three companies and served as an officer in the war of 1812.  He was a prominent pioneer, and filled various public positions.  He shipped flour and other articles by raft down the Tuscarawas River and thence to New Orleans.  He removed from the county seat to Dover, where he died in 1851.  William Albert, in 1814, succeeded Henry Laffer at the latter's tavern stand, which occupied Lot 205, High street, the site of Mathias & McFarland's store.  He was a son of Jacob Albert, an early settler of this township, and continued tavern-keeping about a score of years.  He died in 1837.  Samuel Shull, in 1812 and 1813, paid license to keep a tavern at New Philadelphia; Daniel Hummel, in 1813, and Christian Stout, in 1814, and subsequent years.  George Gray commenced in 1816.  Mr. Hummel came from Chambersburg, in 1811, was a wheelwright and chair-maker and followed his trade two years, when he began keeping tavern at Leininger's place.
     John and Alexander McConnell opened a store at New Philadelphia about 1810, and continued it for several years.  Alexander worked awhile at tailoring, and during the war of 1812 he raised a squad of cavalry, which, however, did not get into action.  He was afterward a popular Justice of Dover, where he died in 1839.
     Among other early settlers of the village were Christian Espich, George W. Canfield, Jacob Blickensderfer, Philip Itzkin, the Peppers, Samuel Stough and George Sluthour.  Mr. Canfield hailed from New Jersey, and reached New Philadelphia about 1814.  He was appointed County Clerk in 1818, and died in office in 1826.  Jacob Blickensderfer was among the most prominent pioneers.  About 1812, he came from Lancaster County, Penn.; was County Commissioner from 1816 to 1819; Associate Judge from 1829 to 1836, and from 1850 to 1852; County Auditor from 1818 to 1820, and filled various other high and important offices.  He labored actively and earnestly to secure the Ohio Canal through the valley, and was always foremost in matters of public improvement.  He was highly educated and possessed superior mathematical abilities.  He removed to Dover, where for many year he was Toll Collector on the canal.  Philip Itzkin came from Philadelphia, and died not many years later.  George Sluthour came from Pennsylvania about 1811, and at once engaged in the carpenter trade.  He constructed a great many early dwellings at the county seat.  Samuel, Albert, Joshua and John Pepper, brothers, and brick-layers, came from Cadiz, and built most of the early brick structures in New Philadelphia.
     On the pages of the Tuscarawas Chronicle, for the year 1821, advertisements of the following New Philadelphia merchants and business men are found: Dr. Orange Ranney "acquaints the public that he has removed to the office formerly occupied by Wright Warner, Esq., opposite William Albert's tavern.  He has also just received and now offers for sale a general assortment of drugs and medicines," many of which he enumerates, and has also "the following highly celebrated patent medicines: Bateman's Drops, Godfrey's Cordial, Anderson's Pills, Itch Ointment (warranted genuine), Golden Tincture, British Oil, Balsam de Malta, Harlem Oil, Lee's Antibilious Pills."
     J. Johnson advertises a general assortment of merchandise, including dry goods, "Ironmongery," cutlery, groceries, liquors, drugs, etc.  He offers to receive tallow at his store in payment of debts or for goods.  John White gives notice that he has commenced the gun-making and repairing business, and hopes to merit encouragement and support.  "Coffee mills sharpened and repaired."  H. Williams informs the public that he continues to carry on his business as chair-maker in his new house on High street.  He has just "purchased the patent right of a newly invented spinning-wheel, and made a number on the new plan, which has been highly approved of by those who purchased them."  Samuel J. Bowlby states that he has commenced the business of book-binding in New Philadelphia, and that, "having tools for binding in all its various branches, he will bind books either in ornamental or plain form."  He offers for sale a variety of German books, and will take country produce in part payment.  Michael Ream commences tailoring in the house opposite Mr. Gray's tavern, "where all orders in the line of his profession will be thankfully received and punctually attended to.  To suit the hardness of the times, he has determined to do work at the following reduced prices:  Superfine coats, at $3 to $3.50; superfine vests or pantaloons, 75 cents; coarse coats, $1.50 to $2; coarse vests or pantaloons, 62½ cents."  William Neeriemer tailor, also requests the patronage of the public, and offers to do work at reduced prices.  He states that he has removed to the house of George Sluthour (formerly occupied as a tavern by D. Hummel).  Benjamin and Jacob Ream advertise for a quantity of muskrat skins, for which the highest price will be given in cash.  Mathias Springer offers to make "ladies' and children's shoes and bootees, of morocco leather, at a reasonable price."  Peter Cribbs " will receive butter in payment of earthenware, at 7 cents per pound, to be delivered at his dwelling in New Philadelphia."  Charles F. Espich desires "dried gensing at 25 cents per pound, and 10 cents for undried, paid in store goods, or part cash if required.  It must be well washed, curls taken out and trimmed."  He also advertises tin and stoneware.  Samuel Lane notifies the inhabitants of New Philadelphia and vicinity "that he has commenced the tayloring business, in the first house south of Mr. Smiley's tavern.  Persons wishing to have their clothes made according to latest fashions can be suited agreeably to their desires."  Robert Sergeant states that he "will receive butter at 6¼ cents per pound in payment of salt, saddlery and earthenware.  Those who intend to furnish him with this article at requested not to put it up in kegs."
     In the Advocate for 1820, besides several of the above advertisers, B. H. Warfield offers to the public a general line of merchandise; Wright Warner inserts a law card and Dr. Orange Ranney announces himself as a practicing physician.  John Hall advertises the tailoring business, and Joseph Landers and Thomas Sergeant appear as tanners; Charles F. Espich as a merchant.
     The following curious but business-like notice, taken from the Tuscarawas Chronicle, Aug. 18, 1821, reveals the lamentable fact that the county seat in its infancy was not, in all respects, a model village.  The righteous indignation expressed, and threatened vengeance, it is hoped, crushed the evil against which it was directed.  The notice was worded as follows:
     LOOK OUT, SLANDERERS!  It has been a practice among some people in this town to slander their neighbors, and create mischief among our citizens by spreading and telling the most notorious falsehoods.  This custom has hitherto been confined to a few women, a short time, others have joined their ranks, whose standing in society was more respectable.  Men have been guilty of this crime, and have lent their aid in spreading stories about their neighbors, which they knew to be false.  Persons who say they heard, that such an one has been guilty of such and such things, or such an one said so and so, are perhaps themselves the forgers of the falsehood.  Taking this system of slandering to be a great evil among our citizens, we recommend that all persons, who tell tales about their neighbors, be made to prove their truth, which, if they cannot do, that their names be posted up on the court house and published in the newspapers, as BASE SLANDERERS, unworthy of being taken into decent company.  Those women and men, who know from experience, that this hint is directed to them, will do well to bridle their tongues in time, or punishment and shame will most assuredly overtake them.

MANY CITIZENS          .

     NEW PHILADELPHIA, August 18, 1821.

     The plat of New Philadelphia, as originally laid out in 1804, and enlarged in 1805, was acknowledged by the proprietor, John Knisely, before Christian Deardorff, Associate Judge, May 22, 1813.  It included 558 lots, most of them sixty-six feet in width and 264 feet in depth.  Water, Front, High, Fair and Ray streets extend north 80 degrees west.  They are crossed at right angles by East, Second, Third, Broadway, Fifth, Sixth, West, Walnut, Mulberry and Chestnut streets.  High, Broadway and Front streets are eighty-two and a half feet wide, Water street fifty feet, all others sixty-six feet.  The alleys are each twenty-four feet nine inches in width.  The square at the intersection of Broadway and High, thirteen rods each way, is donated for a court house.  The two squares at the intersections of East and West streets, with High, are called Lower Market and Upper Market respectively.  The following public donations are indicated on the plat:  Four lots, 361-4 inclusive, at the northwest corner of Ray and Second streets, for English religious societies; four lots, 273-6, at the northwest corner of East and Fair streets, now the cemetery lot, for German religious societies; four lots, 397-400, at the northeast corner of West and Ray streets, to the Moravian Society; Lot 253, on Third street, for a German schoolhouse; Lot 244, on Fifth street, for an English schoolhouse; Lot 203, on High street, for the public offices of the county.
     The first addition to New Philadelphia was made by Benjamin W. Morris.  It consisted of twelve lots, south of the original plat and west of Plum alley; was surveyed in September, 1844, and recorded in May, 1845.  East Addition, consisting of thirteen in-lots and thirteen out-lots, at the northeast corner of the town, was laid out in 1851 by George W. McIlvaine and Jesse D. Elliott; eleven in-lots fronted on Beaver Dam road and two on Fair street.  In the same year Levi Sargent made an addition of twelve lots and two out-lots, south of Water street and west of Fox alley.  William F. Neely and Joseph Welty, in 1853, made their North Addition, consisting of twenty-two lots, located mostly on North street, between Fifth and Broadway.  E. Janes' Addition, of three out-lots and sixteen lots, twelve on East Front and four on an extension of High street, now East avenue, was made in 1857.  "West Philadelphia" consisting of fifty-one lots, located west of Chestnut and south of High street, was laid out by C. H. Mitrchener in 1867.  Kate and T. H. Smith, in 1868, laid out three building lots on East avenue.  In 1868, Sargent's Northern Addition, consisting of thirty-five lots, between Fifth and Sixth streets, was laid out.  A. T. Raiff's Addition of twelve lots, north of Moravian alley and west of West street, was made in 1869.  In the same year, John Kaserman laid out his addition of twenty-two lots south of East avenue.  The addition of John Arn and Jacob Nickles was made in 1870; it consists of ten lots, located north of Moravian alley and west of Walnut street.  "West avenue," adjoining New Philadelphia on the southwest, and consisting of sixty-seven blocks, was laid out in 1872.  N. Montag's Addition of nine lots on North West street was laid out the same year.  William Campbell, in 1882, subdivided Lots 25, 26, 27 and 28.  Eleven building lots were, in 1883, laid out north of West High street by Joseph Welty.  Besides the above, a number of out lots adjacent to New Philadelphia have been platted and recorded.
     New Philadelphia was incorporated by act of Legislature passed Feb. 12, 1833.  The first election for officers was held on Monday, May 6, following.  Thirty-seven votes were polled, and the following citizens were elected to office:  B. M. Atherton Mayor, or President, as it was then called; Andrew Seaton, Recorder; John Coventry, Treasurer; Samuel W. Kenrick, Marshal; Francis D. Leonard, John W. Taylor, Peter Cribbs, Sr., Thomas Sargeant and David Baltzly, Town Council.  The election was held in the court house, and the officers conducting it were Joseph Talbot and Henry Stiffler, Judges; George M. McConnell, Clerk.  At the second annual election held May 5, 1834, forty-one votes were cast, and B. M. Atherton was re-elected Mayor.  He continued in this office until 1838, and his successors with the dates of their first election, were the following:  George N. Allen, 1839; Peter Williams, 1840; David English, 1841; Isaac Hartman, 1842; Benjamin W. Morris, 1844; John J. Camp, 1846; Thomas J. Sargent, 1848; John English, 1853; William M. McPherrin, 1854; O. P. Taylor, 1855; W. L. Robb, 1858; Morgan Butler, 1860; J. H. Barnhill, 1861; Asbury Insley 1862; J. H. Collier 1864; John N. Ferrell 1865; D. W. Stambaugh, 1866; Daniel Korns 1868; J. P. Chapin, 1872; Daniel Korns, 1874; T. C. Ferrell, 1876; William Campbell, 1880, present incumbent.
     Eagle Hall
is a large brick structure, standing on the southwest corner of High and Third streets, and was built in 1871 by the Council of New Philadelphia at a cost of $22,000.  It contains, on the first floor, the Mayor's office, the fire department, and cells for the accommodation of offenders against the peace and dignity of the law; on the second floor is a spacious public hall, which is now temporarily used as an office by the County Recorder and Probate Judge.
     The fire department first sprang into existence by the organization of a fire company about 1856, of which O. H. Hoover was Secretary, and William Campbell, Treasurer.  Several years later, a hand engine, built at the old foundry of English, Roby & Dixon, was purchased.  It was kept in an old building which stood on the court house lot, and the company held its meetings in the court house until the erection of Eagle Hall.  In 1872, a steam fire engine was purchased from the Silsby Manufacturing Company, Seneca, N. Y., for $5,000, which was used until 1883, when a new engine was purchased from the same company.  John Orr was the first Chief Engineer of the company, succeeded by William CampbellSimon Hansel now holds that position.  The department now consists of the hook and ladder company and the engine company, each of which alternately recommends the name of a member for the position of Chief Engineer to the City Council, which then appoints him for a term of two years.
     A market house formerly occupied Lot 156, East High street, the site of Well's drug store.  It was little used for its intended purpose.  The rooms above the market stalls were for many years occupied by the village school.

SCHOOLS

     Who taught the first school at New Philadelphia, who attended and where the building stood cannot now be ascertained.  The first log, jail, built soon after the county was organized, located on the court house lot, was used for purposes of education occasionally, when not needed to subserve the ends of justice.  George W. Canfield and others taught here.  A few years later, a hewed-log schoolhouse was built on the west end of the Getzman lot, No. 253, which fronts on Third street, and was donated by John Knisely for a German school lot.  After this primitive schoolhouse had served its purpose, the

START ON PAGE 475

CHURCHES.

 

CEMETERY.

     The New Philadelphia Cemtery, located on the north side of Fair street, east of Second, is the only burial ground that has ever existed in the village.  The four lots, 273 to 276 inclusive, situated at the northwest corner of East and Fair streets, which were donated by the proprietor of the town plat for German religious societies, was the first depository of the silent dead, and as the needs of additional burying grounds arose, adjacent territory was included, till the grounds now include ten acres.  They were surveyed in 1857 by Solomon Hoover, and within the last eighteen years have been greatly beautified.  The first burial in the cemetery is said to have been that of a man who was drowned in Sandy Creek, and whose remains floated down the river till caught in some driftwood near New Philadelphia.  John Judy, Sr., died in 1807, and was the second person buried in the cemetery.  Many fine marble shafts have been erected within the grounds.  The Everett vault was the first erected.  The Hummell and Buell vaults, since built, cost $3,000 each.

SECRET ORDERS.

 

[PORTRAIT OF JESSE WIN______K]

THE PRESS.

     The Tuscarawas Chronicle, now the Advocate, was the first and for many........

MEDICAL.

 

BANKING.

 

INDUSTRIES.

 

[PORTRAIT OF DAVID GRAM]

HOTELS.

     Taverns in early times performed an important function in the growth of villages.  A constant stream of incoming settlers, who made their way to the West by tedious, toilsome journeys, and of prospectors for future homes, supplied them with an abundance of guests.  In those times, provision was also made at the tavern for the traveler's thirst, and at the bar liquors could always be obtained.  In 1820, their were as many taverns in New Philadelphia as there are hotels to-day.  As mentioned on a previous page, the first tavern was opened by George Leininger in earlier, at the southwest corner of Front and Broadway.  The Gray House, which was the now dilapidated structure standing on the southeast corner of Front and Broadway, was used as a tavern stand for many years.  During the period of its prime, say from 1836 to 1850, it was the leading tavern in the village.  The old Grimm House, on the opposite side of Front street, was a well known and popular resort for travelers for a long time.  The Lion House, which, however, often changed names, occupied the site, has been used longer for hotel purposes than any other in the village.  Henry Laffer was inn-keeper here in a log cabin during the war of 1812; William Albert succeeded, and for many years Albert's tavern as well and widely known.  The Albert's built a large brick hotel, the first three-story brick building in the village, on the site of the old building, and it was occupied as a hotel by different landlords until within two or three years, since when it has been converted into business rooms and offices.  The dry goods store of Mathias & McFarland occupies the corner room.  The Exchange Hotel, now in charge of the genial and popular landlord, C. H. Harvey, is one of the oldest brick structures in town, and it, too, will soon be converted into other uses.  The Exchange was built by Dr. Johnson; after his death, his widow married Dr. Benjamin Morris, who continued the proprietorship for many years.  William Simeval came next into possession, and he was succeeded by Thomas Moore, who purchased the hotel and installed himself its landlord in 1847, remaining four years.  Many proprietors have since conducted this hotel.
     At present (September, 1883), two hotels are in process of construction and another has been recently built.  In 1881, Ernest Schmidt erected on North Broadway, just north of the court house, the Schmidt (now the Sherman) House.  He remained its proprietor until January, 1883, when he leased it to the Zeely Brothers, who are now in charge.  During the summer of 1883, Mr. Schmidt sold the hotel to Edward Rosemond.  It is a handsome three-story brick, about forty-two by ninety feet in size.
     Harrison Kailis erecting, on the northeast corner of Broadway and Front, the site of the Grimm House, recently torn down, a large three-story brick hotel.
     On the south side of West High street, near the square, C. H. Harvey is building the new Exchange, which, when finished, will be one of the handsomest hotel structures in this part of the State.  It is 56x163 feet in size, and three stories in height.
    The following is a summary of the mercantile business of New Philadelphia:  Six dry goods and grocery stores, nine groceries, four drug stores, three clothing stores, four merchant tailoring establishments, three jewelry stores, two music stores, three hardware stores, six boot and shoe stores, and three furniture stores.  There are also three millineries, three bakeries, three cigar manufactories, three liveries and fourteen saloons.

 

[PORTRAIT OF PHILIP BLACK]

GOSHEN TWP.
pg. 494

     Goshen Township in its name preserves a link which connects it with the eventful occurrences in the Tuscarawas Valley prior to the formation of the State government.  The beautiful spring, where the patriarch Zeisberger first led his band of peace-loving Indians in 1772, and founded the flourishing mission which he named Schonbrunn, is situated about two miles south of New Philadelphia, on the east side of the river.
     In 1777, after five years of unparalleled prosperity, this village was abandoned through the necessities of war, but two years later, New Schonbrunn was built on the western bank of the Tuscarawas, nearly opposite the beautiful spring and about a quarter of a mile below Lockport.  It was destroyed by Williamson's party in 1782.  In 1798, Goshen Mission was established by Zeisberger west of the river, about four miles below New Philadelphia, on what is now Lot 39.  As mentioned in the chapter on Moravian Mission, Goshen was occupied by the Indians until their removal from the valley in 1824.
     Schonbrunn Spring was deeded by the owner, John Jacobs, to the Union Bible Society in 1872, and the historic spot has since been inclosed by a fence.  A memorial stone was planted there by C. H. Mitchener, W. C. Williamson, John Judy and others.
     Goshen was one of the four original townships into which the County Commissioners divided Tuscarawas County at their first meeting in the spring of 1808.  It was twenty miles in extent, east and west, and seven and one-half north and south, comprising Township 8 in Ranges 1, 2, 3 and 4, and the south half of Township 9 in the same ranges, or all of the present Goshen and Sugar Creek Townships, most of Auburn, York and Dover, half of Fairfield, small fractions of Warren and Union Townships, and of Holmes County.  The erection of Dover Township in 1810 deprived it of most of this territory west of the river.  Fairfield, in 1817, took a considerable corner from it, and lighter losses were sustained in the subsequent formation of York, Warren and Union.  Goshen yet remains one of the largest townships in the county.  It includes the Schonbrunn tract of 4,000 acres entire.  Exclusive of this tract, the southern and eastern portions are composed of 100-acre military lots, except several sections of congressional land in the northeast corner.  In the northwest portion is a quarter of military land in the northeast corner.  In the northwest portion is a quarter of military land in the northeast corner.  In the northwest portion is a quarter of military land and the fractions of two other quarters.  The first quarter of Township 8, Range 2, containing 3,554 acres, was located by Godfrey Haga, according to patent dated Mar. 28, 1800, and signed by John Adams, President.  Haga, through his agent, John Heckewelder, sold the entire quarter to John Knisely, Jan. 8, 1808, for $3,776, and upon this tract Knisely laid out the county seat.
     Goshen Township contains within its limits all the varied topographical features found in the county.  The Tuscarawas River in the western portion presents a broad and fertile valley.  Beaver Dam Creek, by its tortuous course, and its tributaries pierce the hills in all directions, and help to soften their ruggedness.  The plains, or second bottom lands, extend along both banks of the river, and while the surface of the country generally was covered with a heavy growth of timber, the vesture of the plains was gaunt and sparse.  A scrubby growth of jack oak, in little clumps here and there, comprised almost the entire vegetation.  Owing to this scant forest growth, the early settlers, accustomed to the heavy timbers of Pennsylvania and Maryland, regarded the soil of the plains as poor and thin, and they usually preferred casting their lot among the more densely wooded hills.  The prevailing types of timber were oak, poplar, chestnut, beech, hickory and walnut.  No better soil for general agricultural purposes is found in the county than that of Goshen Township.
     Its mineral resources are equally rich and varied.  Nearly every hill in the township is underlaid with valuable veins of bituminous coal.  The mines now chiefly worked are situated in the east and southeast parts of the township, whence hundreds of tons are daily mined and shipped by rail beyond the county.  Fire-clay is an important product.  A bank is extensively worked by Samuel Foltz at the foot of Goshen Hill, several miles southeast of New Philadelphia.  Excellent quarries of lime and sandstone are found and operated, affording a superior material for building purposes.
     John Knisely emigrated from Bedford County, Penn., to the site of New Philadelphia in 1804, and negotiated with John Heckewelder for a quarter of land, the deed for which, however, was not passed until four years later.  Returning to Pennsylvania, Mr. Knisely brought his family to the wild west country the following year and settled on a farm just east of the county seat.  His children were Abraham, John, Samuel, David, Joseph, Sarah (Minnich), Elizabeth (Casebeer), Mary (Williams) and Susan (Stough), all of whom were earnest and prominent pioneers.  John Knisely afterwards resided in the village he had founded, and died in Dover Township in 1835, at the residence of his son, John Knisely, Jr.
    
Among the resident land-owners of the present Goshen Township who were here in 1809, besides the Kniselys, were Henry Albright, John Baltzly, Samuel Best, Christian and David Casebeer, John Judy, Felix Landis, Philip Minnich, George and David Stiffler, John Switzer, Samuel Thomas.  Henry Albright, a Pennsylvanian, owned nearly 300 acres near New Philadelphia.  He lived there to an advanced age.  John Baltzly, hailing from Little York, Penn., was the owner of Lots 7 and 9 in the third quarter of Township 8, Range 1.  He was accidentally killed prior to 1820 by a falling tree.  His son Peter owned Lot 8, and died in this township; of his other children, Daniel died in Goshen, John in Sugar Creek Township, Jacob in Holmes County.  Samuel Best was a hatter by trade, and had been a tavern-keeper in Steubenville.  He owned Lot 33, fourth quarter, Township 8, Range 1, in the south east part of the township, but becoming dissatisfied he removed to Kentucky and was never afterward heard from.  The Casebeers were amongst the earliest pioneers.  David and Jacob, who were brothers, emigrated from Pennsylvania probably as early as 1805.  David owned the east half of Lot 32, about one and a half miles east of New Philadelphia; was a shoe-maker, and operated a tannery.  He afterwards removed to the county seat, built a tavern, and died there in 1846.  Jacob was a forger of cow bells.  He owned Lot 11, three miles southeast of New Philadelphia.  He died in 18 65.  Christian Casebeer, from Washington County, Penn., after pursuing a farmer's vocation for many years in Goshen Township, removed to Indiana.  John Judy came to the county in 1803.  He was a native of Switzerland, and emigrated to America about 1801, remaining in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, until his removal to Tuscarawas County.  He remained one winter at Gnadenhutten.  He purchased from John Knisely 100 acres of land about a mile east of New Philadelphia, where he engaged in farming.  He was a tailor, and fashioned clothes for the Indians.  Mr. Judy was a life-long resident of Goshen Township from the date of his entrance into it.  Felix Landis, a Virginia farmer, owned and occupied Lot 23, several miles southeast of New Philadelphia.  He was an exemplary Dunkard, and passed his old age amidst the near neighbor.  Philip Minnich emigrated from Bedford County, Penn., with his family, and settled near New Philadelphia on a farm of several hundred acres, where he lived till his death in 1824.  The Stifflers came earlier from the same county, probably in 1803 or 1804.  David settled two and a half miles east of New Philadelphia, and died on the place.  George purchased a farm about a mile east of the county seat, and there followed farming and blacksmithing.  Samuel Thomas, a Virginian and a brother-in-law of Felix Landis, lived near New Philadelphia.  John Switzer, an aged Swiss, came to the township about 1808.
     Among other early residents of Goshen who arrived after the county was organized and before 1820, were the following:  Jacob Albert, who was originally form Washington County, Penn., emigrated to Jefferson County, Ohio, and thence to this county, settling in the northeast part of Goshen Township, the southwest quarter of Section 9.  He brought with him a large family, and one son, William Albert, was for many years a tavern keeper at New Philadelphia.  Jacob Albert died prior to 1820.  Michael Smith entered and occupied a neighboring farm, the northeast quarter of Section 12.  Farther to the west, on Beaver Dam, on parts of Lots 34 and 35, was Christian Baughman, who came from Bedford County, Penn., and remained a life-long citizen of Goshen Township.  Jacob Wallick also settled on Beaver Dam, on a fraction of Lot 37.  He afterward removed to Van Wert County.  On Pike Run, in the fourth quarter of Township 8, Range 1, were Valentine Fleck and Jacob and David Foreman.  All were from Pennsylvania, and remained life-long residents of the township.  Fleck owned Lot 36; Jacob Foreman Lot 29, and his brother, David, Lot 26.  Philip Fackler, from Pennsylvania, moved to near Lockport, in 1814.  Gotlieb Fackler was also a pioneer.  Other early settlers were Casper Engler, Moses and Joseph Everett, Jacob and David Fitch, Samuel Wilson, Henry Shatler, Joseph Rhodes and Frederick Maish; the last-named died in 1823; Gabriel Cryder came to the county in 1808, settled in Dover Township, and a few years later removed to Goshen Township, about five miles southeast from New Philadelphia.  He owned Lots 2, 15, 16, and a fraction of 1, in the third quarter of Township 8, Range 1.  In 1823, he removed to New Philadelphia.
     The Indian mission at Goshen was well known to the pioneers, and the association of the whites with the converted red men did not always redound to the spiritual welfare of the latter.  The Indians led an agricultural life to some extent, but retained the hunting proclivities of their former days and ranged the hills and valleys far and near.  They visited the early pioneers in every part of the county and were usually welcomed, for they seldom indulged in unseemly conduct.  Basket-making was the principal occupation of the squaws.  They often camped out along the creeks near by, and while the Indian braves would hunt, the squaws were industriously weaving baskets.  They soaked the trunks of black ash saplings in water till they became thoroughly saturated, then with mallets pounded them till the fibers separated and formed their splints.  With these they fashioned neat and strong baskets, and sold or traded them to the settlers.  At Goshen is one of the oldest burial grounds in the county.  Here the missionary Rev. Edwards was laid to rest in 1801, and the venerable Zeisberger seven years later.  During the war of 1812 the Goshen Indians were prohibited by the whites from going outside the bounds of their village under penalty of being held and treated as an enemy.  An occasional stealthy infraction of this prohibition by a young Indian resulted sometimes in frightening a child or woman who was unfortunate enough to meet him.  Rev. Abraham Luckenbach was the missionary at Goshen in the fall of 1823, when the mission was broken up and the Indians removed to Canada.  They were extremely loath to leave the wildwood haunts of the valley, which had become endeared to them by a long and pleasant residence.  Slowly and sadly they left their homes, and traveled up the west banks of the river, accompanied by their pastor.  At New Philadelphia they crossed the Tuscarawas, and continued the journey by way of Sandyville to Cleveland, where they embarked on a vessel for their new home in Canada.  Tom Lyons is said to have been the only Indian who refused to go.  He lingered about for many years, the terror of children and dread of women, for he boasted of having in his possession the tongues of ninety-nine white women, and wanted another to make an even number.
     Blake's Mills, usually called Lockport, is a little village of 300 people, located on the south side of the Tuscarawas River, on the Ohio Canal, opposite New Philadelphia.  It was incorporated in the spring of 1883, when the following officers were elected: Simon J. Beck, Mayor; William E. Beck, Clerk; Christian Coppersmith, Michael Siebold, John Cramer, James McKnight and David Niderhiser, Council; Simon Darst, Treasurer; Edward Steinbaugh, Marshal.  The population is largely German.  The village contains one general store, two saloons, two blacksmith shops, a harness shop, a wagon shop, two butcher shops, an extensive lime kiln operated by William McLean, a large grist mill, a brewery, a paper mill, a graded school and a Methodist Church.
     The paper mill was removed from Navarre, and built south of the canal on Broadway in 1868, by the New Philadelphia Paper Manufacturing Company.  Two years later, its location was removed to the river side, where it was rebuilt at a cost of $25,000 by Judy, Knisely & Co., a firm which still owns it, and which consists of David Judy, George W. McIlvaine, Oliver Knisely and George Welty, the last of whom manages the mill. Fifty tons of straw wrapping paper are produced here each month.
     The grist mill was built in 1854 by Walter M. Blake.  He operated it until his death, and his administrators sold the property to Richard Johnson from whom the present owner, J. W. Patterson, obtained it.  The mill originally contained three run of buhrs.  Mr. Patterson added a fourth; but, in the summer of 1883, he adopted the roller process, and refitted the mill with the necessary machinery.  The mill is situated on the canal, and is operated by water power.  Besides transacting a custom business, the proprietor ships considerable flour to the East.
     The brewery was set in operation about twenty-five years ago by Michael Berger, who, after a time, sold it to Rudolph Kapitzky.  From him the present proprietors, Siebold & Hockenbraugh, obtained possession.  They manufacture and keep in stock an immense amount of the German's national beverage.
     The village possesses an excellent two-story brick schoolhouse, erected many years ago, where in a graded school, composed of three rooms, is kept.  S. J. Beck is Principal, and has occupied that position since the graded system was inaugurated, except two terms, during which Mr. Kinsey and George Welty respectively conducted the schools.
     The Methodist Episcopal Church  is a neat frame structure, which was erected during the summer and autumn of 1870, and dedicated in February, 1871, by Rev. J. F. Kennedy, of Delaware, Ohio.  The society was organized shortly before the building of the church.  Its membership is small.
     Lockport was laid out in 1829 by Frederick Shull and Gottlieb Fackler, on the south side of the Ohio Canal, immediately above Lock 13.  The original plat included sixty-nine lots.  In 1830, the proprietors made an addition of forty lots, 70-109, north of the canal.  Its streets were Jackson, North Canal, Adams, Clay and Ferry.  In 1833, the original plat was partially vacated and re-surveyed, and Lots 110-121 were laid out on the south side of the canal.  The streets were First, Second and Third, extending north and south, and Canal street, running east and west.  In 1872, Lots 75-87 inclusive, located on West Adams street, were vacated.  Blakesfield was laid out in 1845 by Walter M. Blake, on land adjoining Lockport on the east.  It comprised forty-two lots, all of which were located between the canal and river.  Broadway was the main street.  Twelve lots of Blakesfield 1-19 were situated west of Broadway, and thirty lots east of it.  South Blakesfield was laid out in 1851, by Mr. Blake south of the canal, and adjoining Lockport.  The lots, eighty-seven in number, were located on both sides of Broadway.  In 1868, Samuel Howe made an addition to Blake's Mills (Lockport), consisting of thirteen lots on the west side of "Oldtown" street, or Broadway, and south of and adjacent to the canal.  In 1870, Jacob Darst made an addition of twenty-six lots, south of the canal and on the east side of Broadway.
     Mr. Espich built the first house in Lockport.  Samuel Sedgwick was an early tavern keeper.  Conrad Rager owned and conducted the first store.  In 1855, Clark Robinson started a mill to make oil from cannel-coal, but the inexhaustible supplies of rock oil discovered soon after in Pennsylvania made the enterprise a failure.  It was the canal that brought Lockport into existence, and the village still smacks of its origin.  A dozen or more old boatmen reside here, some of whom dwell during the winter in houses, while others take up winter quarters in their boats.
     The most extensive coal mines in the county are located in the southeast part of Goshen Township on Pike Run.  At present two companies are operating mines here.  The Tuscarawas Valley Coal Company was incorporated in 1873, after these mines had been worked about a year, the stockholders being Cleveland men.  Its mines have been operated continuously since.  J. E. Waters, of Bridgeport, is the General Superintendent of the mines.  About 150 miners and employes are engaged, and the daily yield of the mines is about 300 tons.  The Brock Hill Coal Company was incorporated in 1881.  J. M. Shanks, of New Philadelphia, is its General Superintendent.  The capacity of its mines and the number of its employes are equal to that of the Tuscarawas Valley Company.
     The operation of these mines has produced a mining town of consideration size and importance, called Pike Run.  The only recorded lots of the place are Kent's building lots, surveyed and platted in Ma_, 1881, by Oliver Young.  They are located on Lot 29, of the fourth quarter of Township 8, Range 1, and number thirty-six, ranged in five tiers, which are interested by two streets, Main and Center.  Pike Run has a population of 500 or 600. It contains three stores, a church and as knights of Pythias lodge.  The name of the post office here is Barnhill.
     The Pike Run Brethren Church was organized in the spring of 1882, by Rev. George F. Deal, with a membership of sixty-three.  During the same year a frame house of worship was erected on a lot donated to the church by the coal company.  The building is about 36x48 in size, and cost $2,000.  It was dedicated by Dr. Z. Warner, of Parkersburg.  The membership of the society has increased to 100, and Rev. Deal is still in charge.
     La Belle Lodge, No. 160, I. O. O. F., was instituted at Pike Run May 16, 1883, with thirty-five members.  It was named in honor of Andrew Baggs of Bridgeport, Ohio, one of the proprietors of the La Belle Glass Works of that city, who donated to the lodge two building lots.  The first officers of the lodge now serving, are John A. Kothe, P. C.; C. F. Grinnell, C. C.; John W. Richards, V. C.; John Hawkins, Prelate; W. B. Davy, K. of R. and S.; John Smith, M. of F.; Emanuel Hensel M. of E.; Benjamin Browning M. at A.; John Page, I. G.; George W. McIlvaine Roby, O. G.  The lodge  erected a neat hall in the summer and autumn of 1883.
     Ontario Mills was the designation given to sixteen lots laid out by Robert Hanna in 1853 on Lots 26 and 27, about a half mile north of the site of Pike Run.  The village did not prosper, and nothing now remains of it.
     An imposing town plat of 300 lots was surveyed a few years ago, midway between Dover and New Philadelphia.  It was called Mooreville, but the dazzling attempt to rear a rival  City between these two places proved a failure.
     Beaver Dam United Brethren Church has a present membership of fifty-two, and is under the patronage of Rev. George F. Deal, The house of worship in the southern part of Section 9, a half mile from the eastern line of the township, was built about 1878.  A Lutheran congregation formerly flourished in this vicinity, and was supplied by Rev. E. Greenwold.  About 1846, the Lutherans built a church on the site of the present edifice.  James Raridan, Daniel Baltzly and Zachariah Garibrand were then trustees.  Removals and deaths reduced the membership, and services were discontinued.  In 1857, the building was leased for ten years to a United Brethren class, which had just been formed under revival meetings held by Rev. Leander Rinehart.  Among the converted were the Leathermans, wrights, Smiths and Leightles.  The church property was again leased by the United Brethren Society, and its members constructed the present building.|
     The Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Church is located in the northeastern part of the township, on the northeast quarter of Section 8.  The lot upon which it stands was donated by Mrs. Elizabeth Simth.  It is a small frame building, and was erected in 1877, at a cost slightly exceeding $1,200.  The present membership is scarcely above twenty.  A Methodist class had been organized in this vicinity many years prior to 1850, and in that year a building known as the Rehobeth Curch, was erected near the north line of Lot 2, about a mile southwest of the present structure,  the land for the church being the donation of Ransom Newton.  Earlier meetings had been held in vacant cabins, and among the early members were Isaac Walters, Jacob Walters, John Everhart, Solomon Minard, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith and Frederick Rummell.  This structure was used until Bethlehem Church was built, under the pastorate of Rev. J. H. Jackson.  Its subsequent pastors have been Revs. Michael Williams, Amos Keeler and William M. Dickerson.
    
In the southeast part of the township a Methodist class was organized in 1853, in consequence of a series of revival services conducted by Rev. Alexander Scott.  The following year, during the ministry of Rev. Simon P. Wolf, a frame church, 28x38 feet, was built on Lot 2, near Pike Run, at an expense of $600.  Occasional services had previously been held in a neighboring schoolhouse.  The leading early members were Henry Mosher and wife, John McCleland and wife, Henry Bess and wife, C. C. Carroll and wife, Mrs. Agnes Ellis, Mrs. Sarah Coleman, James Watkins and wife, Samuel Browning and wife, and John Scott and wife.  In 1882, a new church was built on the site of the old, and dedicated in February, 1883, by Rev. W. B. Watkins, of the Pittsburgh Conference.  It is a frame structure, splendidly finished, with arched ceiling and stained window-panes, and surmounted by bell and belfry.  Its cost was $3,500.  The new church is called the Plains Church; the old was known as Sansom's Chapel.  At present the membership is about eighty.  Plains Church circuit includes, besides this charge, Bethlehem Church in this township, Holmes in Warren, and Rockford i Union.
     In the southern part of the township, west of the river, on Lot 34, stands the Goshen Methodist Church, which was built about 1854, and is still occupied by a small congregation.  Anthony Alderson and John Moore were early members.
     In 1866, when the oil excitement was at fever heat, and fortunes were rapidly made in Pennsylvania, the Goshen Oil & Coal Company was organized and incorporated at New Philadelphia, with a capital stock of $20,000, for the purpose of searching the depths of the Tuscarawas Valley for this illuminator.  Its officers were Jesse D. Elliott, President; James Moffit, Secretary; O. P. Taylor Treasurer; Daniel Korns, W. C. Williamson, S. O'Donnell and C. B. Harvey, Directors.  In Goshen Township, three miles above New Philadelphia, a well was drilled 500 feet without success, and some of the parties interested wished to withdraw.  The well, however, was sunk 400 feet deeper, and a stream gushed forth, which was found on examination to be not oleaginous, but strongly impregnated with salt.  Works were at once erected under the management of Jesse D. Elliott, Judge James Moffit, Daniel Korns, W. C. Williamson and O. P. Taylor, the principal stockholders, and the evaporation of salt commenced.  The name was changed to the Goshen Coal Oil & Salt Company, which, in 1871, disposed of the property to Custer, Scott & Kennedy.  The present owners are John Custer, B. P. Scott & John Scott.  The yield of the works is about seventy barrels of salt per day.  The discovery of salt in this well resulted in the drilling and operation of two other wells in Dover Township a year or two later.  The product of the three wells, outside of the slight local demand, is sold through the Tuscarawas Valley Salt Company, of which J. M. Custer is Agent, and B. P. Scott, Secretary and Treasurer.  The company handles about 60,000 barrels of salt per annum. 
     Not far remote from the present River Mills, near New Philadelphia, was in early times the Baker Grist Mill.  It was built about 1820, did custom work only, and survived but a few years.
     The citizens of Goshen Township who have been elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, have the following with a few others:
Abraham Knisely, 1808; Christian Espich, 1810, resigned 1811; Abraham Shane, 1811; Abraham Knisely, 1811; John Blickensderfer 1818; Samuel Lamberson,  1819; Wright Warner, 1819; J. Blickensderfer,  1821; Alexander McConnell, 1822; Abraham Knisely, 1822; Jacob Blickensderfer, 1824, removed from the township during term; James Stough, 1825; Nathan McGrew, 1825; Andrew Seaton, 1827; Samuel Stough, 1`828; Abraham Knisely, 1828; Andrew Seaton, 1830; John W. Taylor 1831; Abraham Knisely, 1831; Jacob Kitch,  1833; John Butt, 1834; Andrew Seaton, 1834; Samuel Sedgwick, 1835; John Butt, 1837; Andrew Seaton, 1837; John Judy, Jr., 1838; John Butt,  1840; Charles Korns, 1840; John Judy,1841; Robert Copeland, 1843; John Judy, 1844; Samuel Sedgwick, 1846; John B. Reed, 1846, resigned 1849; Samuel Sedgwick, 1q849 George W. McIlvaine, 1849; Joshua Pepper, 1847; John Grimm, 1850, resigned 1852; Joseph Walton, 1852, removed from township during term; Samuel Sedgwick, 1852; George W. McIlvaine, 1852; Jacob C. Helmick, 1853; William McPherrin, 1855, resigned 1855; Joseph Welty, 1855, resigned 1858; Alexander L. Neely, 1855; John Butt, 1856; William L. Robb, 1858; Alexander L. Neely, 1858; John Butt, 1859; John W. Morrow, 1861; John Grimm 1861; John Butt, 1862; Solomon Hoover, 1862; Daniel Christy, 1863; Bowers Seaton, 1864, resigned 1865; William L. Robb, 1865; Solomon Hoover, 1865; Daniel Christy, 1866; William L. Robb, 1868; Solomon Hoover, 1868, died 1870; Daniel Christy, 1869; Asbury Insley, 1870; William L. Robb, 1871; John W. Albaugh, 1872;  Asbury Insley 1873; John S. Graham, 1874; William L. Robb, 1874; Asbury Insley, 1876; John S. Graham, 1877; William L. Robb, 1877; Samuel Moore, 1880; Philip S. Olmstead, 1879; John S. Graham, 1880; Samuel Moore, 1880; Emery G. Dutton, 1881; P. S. Olmstead, 1882; Charles W. Sweesey, 1883.


 

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